Chris Craft Deluxe Utility / Sportsman

Having always wanted to restore and own a pre WWII Mahogany Chris Craft Runabout and doing a bunch of homework on the topic, Ilocated and purchased a beautiful and promising project boat from an estate in central NY.My understanding is that thisboathad been in dry, indoor storage on a trailer for literally decades. It was owned by a former Air Force pilot from outside the Utica NY area since the1950's. Hehad purchased it from amarina in the Old Forge, NYarea andused it exclusively at the family camp with the family for many years. With the children grown and the camp sold back in the seventies, the boat went into storage. It has a pretty cool, documented history. I purchased it from the children as part of "dad's estate" after his passingwith agood dealof the original documentation, manuals and an hours worth of neat old stories dating back to the late fifties. Included was even original correspondence letters from Chris Craft to the owner from 1959. The contents of the letter included that the hull was actually manufactured in 1935 and the boat actually built at the factoryand soldin 1940, presumably as a result of sagging boat sales during the Great Depression.Appropriately stored and very well documented, this boat is indeed a rare, unrestored find. It has the flathead four cylinder, model B engine. The boat appears pretty muchoriginal and is insurprisinglyniceshape to start a veryworthwhile restoration. Thehull isn't rotted or warped as is apparently common with boats that have been on their trailer for all those years. Relative to many I have looked at, it also isn'tcompletely oil soaked under the engine eitherIt has a massive one off trailer, with supports in very strategic locations, which clearly supported it well. The trailer tires hold andit does move around freely. It has an incredibly short tongue. It should probably go without saying, but I wouldn't plan on towing the trailer. As you can see,we loaded the boat and trailer onto my equipment trailer which is an 18'x7'.Itworked our pretty well and was an easy tow. I have New York registrations for both boat and trailer in hand. Clearly dad began to put a finish on the boat, then set it aside in the barn. As the story goes, with the kids loosing interest, he set it aside to begin restoration a vintage Cessna instead and never returned to complete the work he had started on the boat.The engine wasa correct remanufactured long block, installed before he had purchased the boatand has only about350 hours total on the hour meter. I do have multiple service manual copies. It was remanufactured by Noresman Marine Engines. Incidentally, the Noresman and Chris Craft manuals are nearly identical. Norseman made no attempts to hide the fact that they simply copied the original manual when you view them side by side. I have personallyspent a fairly nominal amount of time to date actuallytinkeringwith the boat and for that reason, I have decided topart with it. I simply don't have the time to work onpersonal projects like I used to, so a few have to find new homes.Since I have owned it, the boat has been stored indoors 100% of the time as well. What I have done islubricatedthe cylinderswell with light oil andturned it first witha breaker bar, of course.It didn't have any stuck valves orany red flags to report. Minor attention to connections, switches and theelectric starter functions with abattery.The engine soundshealthy turning over.With a little lubrication and love, the ignition and assorted switchesseem reliable. The 6 voltelectrical system is still seemingly original and not tampered with. Surely it willneedattention, but the early hardware is all still intact. I put fuel through it to see if the pump would draw, but without changing the oil first, didn't feelfiring the engine would be a great idea.The interior floor boards have been removed to assess and it looks really solid. It definitely needs the bilge stringers replaced and I was planning to do a proper 3M 5200 bottom as everyone does on these hulls. The windshield was "updated" with one of those ugly Taylor Made Plexiglas jobs decades ago, likely in an attempt to make it look like the later Chris Crafts of the era. I did locate anice set of original Chris Craft split windshield framesthat are included, The glass is just flat laminated thatwill have to be sourced or cut atany automotive glass place. Also includedare a bunch of coolperiod correct Chris Craft parts/accessories that I have collected as well...Included are, but not limited to aOEM gauge set,search light, spare stainlesstrim, an extra Zenithcarburetor andfuel system parts, fuelseparator, an extraOEM fuel tank,pieces ofmiscellaneousOEM hardware, an anchor, a set of lifthardware, a rudder, a complete steeringset up/box/columnand so forth. I do have all the original stainless trim and bits missing from the boat in the pics, that were removed, wrappedand cataloged way backwhen.To my best knowledge, ithas all been accounted for. The gentleman that owned it seemed very meticulous and well organized.I am selling this boat very reasonably as I wouldrather see it restored than work around it in my small and over-crowded shop. I do require a $500 PayPal deposit within48 hours of auction end and balance due before pick up.The buyer is responsible forarranging and paying for transport within a reasonable amount of time. If the boat is paid for, I don't mind storing it indoors for a couple weeks or so.Not opposed to storing it a little longer if we work out some sort of storage, but that should be discussed prior to bidding, if need be. I havea machine and don't mind assisting with loading it, if necessary.

Thanks for having a look.